July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company, and Trafigura AG are shipping diesel cargoes to Chile from South Korea as Argentina cuts natural gas exports because of a cold spell.

Total hired High Endeavor to ship 47,000 metric tons to Chile from South Korea for July 25 loading, according to shipping data provided by Millennium Chartering Pte in Singapore. Trafigura paid $1.9 million for the Freja Fionia to move 40,000 tons in mid-July, according to Trade Sea Shipbroking Pte.

Argentina reduced gas exports to Chile to 1.1 million cubic meters, compared with demand of as much as 1.8 million cubic meters, the newspaper Clarin said on July 10, citing a report by Chile's National Energy Commission. Buenos Aires recorded its first snowfall in more than 30 years, forcing the nation's government to cut electricity and gas supplies to businesses.

``Chile urgently needs to cover its gas shortage and there are plenty of export opportunities for Korean gasoil,'' said Akira Kamiyama, a trader at Mitsui & Co. in Tokyo. ``There are at least two to three cargoes going from Korea to Chile.''

The price of gasoil with 0.005 percent sulfur, or 50-parts- per-million, rose to a record $90.55 a barrel today in Singapore, Asia's biggest oil-trading center, and has risen 24 percent this year, according to Bloomberg data. Demand from Chile and Europe has helped to draw down supplies of the fuel in Asia in the last two months.

``Starting from the middle of the month, about 450,000 tons of low-sulfur diesel grades will arrive in Europe from Asia,'' Vienna-based PVM Oil Associates GmbH said in a report yesterday.

The 0.5-percent sulfur gasoil crack, or spread, to Dubai crude, a basic measure of refining profit or loss, rose 5.2 percent in the last week to $15.58 a barrel, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Kingfish Services Ltd., a London-based commercial shipping management company, on May 24 shipped 35,000 tons of gasoil on the tanker Pacific Polaris to Chile from South Korea, paying $1.75 million for the charter, Odin Marine Inc. in Singapore said in May.

To contact the reporters on this story: Katherine Espina in Singapore at kespina@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 11, 2007 06:26 EDT